U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

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Real earnings in August 2011

September 21, 2011

Real average hourly earnings for all employees fell 0.6 percent from July to August, seasonally adjusted. This decrease stemmed from a 0.1-percent decrease in average hourly earnings and a 0.4-percent increase in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U).

From July to August, real average weekly earnings fell 0.8 percent, as a result of the 0.3-percent decrease in the average workweek and the decrease in real average hourly earnings. Since reaching a recent peak in October 2010, real average weekly earnings have fallen 2.2 percent.

Real average hourly earnings for production and nonsupervisory employees fell 0.6 percent from July to August, seasonally adjusted. This decrease stemmed from a 0.1-percent decrease in average hourly earnings and a 0.4-percent increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W).

These earnings data are from the Current Employment Statistics program. Earnings data for July and August are preliminary and subject to revision. To learn more, see "Real Earnings — August 2011" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL-11-1328.